Malaussène Series by Daniel Pennac

4.08 · 127 ratings
  • The Scapegoat (Malaussène #1)
    #1

    The Scapegoat (Malaussène #1)

    Daniel Pennac

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings · published 1985

    Pathetic, contrite and hapless, Benjamin is nonetheless the scapegoat at The Store: there is nothing for which he cannot be blamed. While his blunders remain minor, most of his unwitting victims can find it in their hearts to forgive him, but when violent explosions begin to follow him around, he inevitably becomes the prime suspect... more

  • The Fairy Gunmother (Malaussène #2)
    #2

    The Fairy Gunmother (Malaussène #2)

    Daniel Pennac

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings · published 1987

    Maybe the worst indignity for a Paris cop is to be shot dead by an old granny he is trying to help cross the street in Paris on a frosty morning. An old lady needs protection with so many druggies around these days. Dressed as an elderly Vietnamese woman, Inspector Van Thian goes to investigate. Daniel Pennac’s “Belleville Quintet,” a cult success in France, also includes The Scapegoat, Monsieur Malaussene, Passion Fruit, and Write to Kill.

  • Write to Kill (Malaussène #3)
    #3

    Write to Kill (Malaussène #3)

    Daniel Pennac

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings · published 1990

    Benjamin Malaussene is a downtrodden publisher at Vendetta Press. Treated as a scapegoat by Queen Zabo, the redoubtable doyenne of publishing, he has finally had enough. After one row too many with her, he resigns, only to have Zabo offer him a starring role. All he has to do is impersonate the world's best-loved but hitherto anonymous author, J.L.B.But things are never simple for Malaussene and his extended family of misfits and chancers... more

  • Monsieur Malaussène (Malaussène #4)
    #4

    Monsieur Malaussène (Malaussène #4)

    Daniel Pennac

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings · published 1995

    Parisian scapegoat Benjamin Malaussène, along with his family of half sisters and brothers, are once again the target for a series of increasingly catastrophic mishaps that culminate in Malaussène’s imprisonment on 21 counts of murder. Meanwhile, the real serial killer remains at large. In this sprawling thriller, which brings the “Belleville Quintet” to a close, Pennac has allowed his unique imagination to run riot... more

  • Passionfruit (Malaussène #6)
    #6

    Passionfruit (Malaussène #6)

    Daniel Pennac

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings · published 1999

    Benjamin Malaussène and family are far from happy when his fortune teller younger sister Thérèse marries the aristocratic Count Marie-Colbert de Roberval at a televised wedding – a ceremony from which Marie-Colbert has unceremoniously banned the madcap Malaussène clan. Two days later, Thérèse turns up in Paris’s Belleville quarter back early from their honeymoon, only to narrowly escape death as her fairground caravan is mysteriously torched to the ground... more

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